The fauna of the northern and central parts of the North American continent is very similar to the fauna of Eurasia. Many unique animals and plants can be found in the tropics of North America.
The territory of North America is divided into two zoogeographic regions: the Holarctic and the Neotropical region.
The fauna of the Holarctic
The similarity of the fauna of the North American Holarctic and Eurasia is explained by the fact that in the recent geological past there was a land connection between the continents in the place where the Bering Strait is now located. The animals migrated freely, settling over a vast territory.
The North American Holarctic includes Canada, the United States, and northern and central Mexico.
In the arctic and tundra zone of North America, you can find a polar bear, arctic fox, reindeer, polar hare, polar partridge, snowy owl, lemming. The exclusively American animal in this region is the musk ox, which lives on the Arctic islands of Canada and Greenland.
The Canadian taiga and forests in the northern United States are home to beavers, wapiti deer, American sables, Canadian lynxes, brown bears, grizzly bears, foxes, badgers, wolves, red squirrels, wolverines, muskrats, raccoons, woody porcupines and other animals. Broadleaved forests are home to a number of species found only in North America: Virginia deer, gray fox, star-snout mole, skunk, gray squirrel, and wild turkey.
In the open spaces of the steppes and semi-deserts of the United States, marmots, gophers, coyotes live. Before the arrival of Europeans, these territories were inhabited by bison, which were practically exterminated by the beginning of the 20th century. Currently, these large artiodactyls are under state protection in US national parks, and their numbers are gradually increasing.
Subtropical forests and swamps are rich in birds and reptiles. Several species of hummingbirds, ibises, flamingos, pelicans, and parrots live here. Alligators and alligator turtles are typical representatives of the flora of the states of Florida and Louisiana.
The Neotropical North American region includes the states of Central America, the islands of the Caribbean and southern Mexico.
Fauna of the Neotropical Region
South American animals are found in Central America: tapir, baker pigs, anteater, puma, jaguar, ocelot, American broad-nosed monkeys, armadillos, marsupial rats. On the islands of the Caribbean Sea, large mammals are practically absent, there are only a few species of rodents and bats, but there are many birds and bright tropical butterflies.
